


The Gift of Happiness

by dippkip



Series: A Walk in the Park [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Pepper plots, Rhodey worries, and Tony just rolls with it until he's completely consumed, because nobody can resist a puppy, dog!Natasha, let Tony be happy 2k15, not even Tony, now as a tiny little puppy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-06 06:10:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5405969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dippkip/pseuds/dippkip
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pepper’s noticed Tony’s steady decline in health lately. She knew he wouldn’t appreciate a babysitter, so maybe she can find a different way to convince him to take care of himself. </p><p>Prequel to the previous “Walk in the Park” stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift of Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place a long while before the other stories in the series. Apologies for the confusing timeline, but I'm just writing these as they come to me.

Tony’s nose scrunched up as he took in the state of the penthouse living room. Everything that had once been on the coffee table was now strewn about the floor. His leather armchair had bits of stuffing hanging out and several distinct bite marks. The whiskey glasses that had been resting along the bar were now in pieces, along with that bottle of Ballantine’s that he’d been looking forward to finishing later. His sweeping gaze finally came to rest on the eye of the storm, and he found himself taking a deep, fortifying breath before he spoke.

“Pepper, light of my life, my sun and stars, why is there a red hairball on my couch?”

“That hairball is a very expensive Borzoi puppy Tony, and she still needs a name.”

“Pepper, what have I said about bringing sentient organics into my home?”

“And what have _I_ said about taking better care of yourself?”

That stopped Tony short. He blinked hard a couple times before his brain confirmed that no, that statement had no connection to the presence of the mammal in his home.

“This may be the first time I’ve ever said this, but I don’t follow you Pep,” Tony reluctantly admitted.

Pepper gave an exasperated huff before she elaborated. “I can’t be here all the time to babysit you Tony, but you need to eat and sleep regularly. Clearly you are incapable of doing that on your own, so I thought I’d provide some incentive to help you along.”

“Yeah, I still don’t see how giving me an animal I can potentially kill will help anything.”

“I know you well enough that I know you won’t _actually_ let her die. If only out of guilt, you’ll remember to feed her and make sure she gets sleep, and with any luck, you’ll do the same for yourself at the same time,” Pepper calmly asserted.

Tony raised a skeptical eyebrow and raised his hands in a sweeping gesture. “I can’t have something making messes like this all the time, Pep. I’m enough of a slob by myself, I don’t need any help trashing my house.”

“That’s what obedience lessons are for, Tony. I read that Borzois mellow out very quickly, and they respond well to training, so she’ll just be sleeping on your couch and giving you company,” Pepper calmly shot back. Her lips twisted into a wry little grin as she added, “They’re also very quiet dogs, so she won’t be a bother when you’ve got a hangover. Again.”

“Pepper, when am I ever gonna have time to take her to classes? Between my work in the lab, all those awful SI meetings you _insist_ I need to be there for, even though I’m _not_ CEO anymore – ”

“Luckily for you, you’ve got quite the break coming up. You’ve only got a few meetings these next few months, and the release of the new StarkPad in 3 weeks means you’ll be able to take a breather before you have to get back to R&D,” Pepper cut in with her most winning smile.

Tony sputtered, his mind groping for another excuse, _anything_ so he didn’t have to let this little monster into his home, but he was coming up with nothing. What good was it being a genius if his brain couldn’t kick-start at critical times like this?

Pepper seemed to realize he was flailing and smiled for real – a soft little thing she reserved for times when she insisted the billionaire was being endearing for once in his life.

“Just give it a try, Tony. If you really hate her that much, I can find another home for her, but I _really_ think she’ll be good for you.”

Tony narrowed his eyes at her before crouching next to the little pompom on his couch, bringing his face level with it. As though disturbed by this, the puppy raised her head and gave a great yawn, making a little squeaking sound. She slowly blinked a few times before she finally registered Tony’s presence and cautiously leaned forward to sniff his face. He froze as she gave him a thorough inspection, but instantly loosened up again when he seemed to have gained her approval, punctuated with a tiny lick to the tip of his nose.

“Okay Pep, I’ll try. But you’d better have those obedience classes already scheduled – I’m not messing with that.”

“I’ve already got that covered.”

“Oh, good. And you said she needed a name? How ‘bout Natasha? A ridiculously Russian dog needs a ridiculously Russian name.”

“Of course. Will that be all, Mr. Stark?”

“That will be all, Ms. Potts.”

 

* * *

 

 

Rhodey cautiously exited the elevator and made his way further into the penthouse. Pepper had called and asked him to check on Tony – she hadn’t seen him for a few months now, and was too bogged down at SI to get over and see him herself. Usually when Rhodey got these kinds of calls, he’d be finding Tony passed out in an uncomfortable place, often surrounded by empty bottles. He sighed at the thought, but resolutely continued checking the floor. His friend wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen, and just as Rhodey resigned himself to having to check down in the labs again, he heard a muffled voice from further back in the penthouse. He quickly made his way back into Tony’s room and saw the bathroom door was closed, but light leaked out from the crack.

He suppressed another sigh as he banged against the door. “Need any help in there, Tones?”

“Rhodey? Honeybear? Is that you?” Tony asked from within. Surprisingly, he sounded completely sober and, well, _happy_. It broke Rhodey’s heart that this came off as such a shock, but he knew his friend well, and it had been a long time since he’d sounded that chipper with no alcohol in his system.

Apparently the colonel didn’t respond quickly enough, as the door swung open to reveal a sopping wet – but fully clothed – billionaire. He grinned as he lurched forward to trap Rhodey in a damp hug.

“It’s been too long platypus! You never write, you never call, I’m really beginning to think I’m putting all the effort into this relationship – ”

“Tony, I swear, if you don’t get your wet self off me this instant, I am throwing your ass halfway across the room.”

Tony tutted as he released his friend, turning back into the bathroom as he spoke. “No fun anymore, sourpatch. You’ve _got_ to come by more often. If you keep making faces like that you’re gonna pull a muscle.”

“Very funny Tony. Look, Pepper’s been worried because she hasn’t heard from you in months. What have you been doing?”

“I’ve had a new project, babe. Didn’t she tell you? She’s the one who gave it to me, so I don’t know what all the fuss is about.”

Rhodey followed Tony into the bathroom and stopped short. There were bubbles _everywhere_. It looked like a small child had poured an entire bottle of bubble bath into the enormous jacuzzi tub that dominated the room. He shuffled further in as he tried to gain his bearings, and stopped again when the mass of bubbles in the middle of the tub shifted. There was some splashing before a tiny snout finally emerged from the foam, giving a little yip before vanishing once again.

“Ah HA, there she is!” Tony crowed triumphantly as he thrust his arms into the bubbles. When he withdrew them, Rhodey could clearly see the puppy that had been in hiding. She wriggled in Tony’s grip, yipping once again as he carried her over to the shower.

“Geez, gotta rinse you off in here. I guess I got too excited with the bubbles, huh Tahsa?” he murmured to her as he turned on the spray and began gently rubbing the suds off. Rhodey was sure he’d be standing there with his mouth hanging open if he wasn’t so worried about ending up with a mouthful of bubbles. Instead, he opted for staring at Tony in open astonishment as his friend finished rinsing the dog and began carrying her over to the counter.

He struggled to come up with an adequate response, but all that came out of his mouth was, “That’s a dog.”

Tony looked up and lifted an eyebrow. “Astute observation, Detective Rhodes. You never cease to amaze.”

Rhodey glared as he tried to regain his composure. “Oh, can it Tones, you know what I mean. As long as I’ve known you, you’ve regarded animals with a level of distain that you usually reserve for Justin Hammer, and now I see you _hand-bathing_ and cooing at a dog that I’ve never seen before. Forgive me if I’m a bit thrown by this turn of events,” he groused, gesturing to Tony and the puppy.

“Well, I’ve had a slight change of heart recently,” the genius huffed, sticking his nose in the air. He bent over to rifle through the drawers under the counter as he continued, “I’ll have you know that Natasha here was a present from Pepper, and she is the most precious little thing you will ever have the privilege of laying your heathen eyes upon.” He straightened back up with his prize – a heavy-duty blowdryer – and grumbled as he plugged it in, “And I didn’t _coo_.”

“Sure thing man. Whatever you say.”

“Oh, what’s that sugarlump? I can’t hear you over the dryer. Maybe you should just wait out in the living room while I finish up in here.”

“Very mature Tony!” Rhodey shouted as he beat his retreat. He wandered out into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of beers, popping them open and setting them on the coffee table before lowering himself onto the couch. He was just getting ready to grab the TV remote from the side table when he heard the unmistakable jingle of dog tags coming down the hallway behind him. He turned in time to see Tony coming into the room, preceded by a very proud Natasha, who seemed to be showing off her red leather collar as she strutted in.

“What a little ham. She’s been watchin’ you, hasn’t she?” Rhodey teased, laughing when Tony squawked in outrage.

Natasha quickly rounded the end of the couch, but halted when she looked up at Rhodey. He slowly leaned over to try and get her to sniff his hand, but the instant he shifted, she was darting back behind Tony’s legs. She didn’t cower – she still held herself upright and with confidence – but the image was ruined by her obvious attempt to hide.

Tony chuckled as Rhodey was torn between pouting and cooing at her himself. “She’s not too quick to warm up to strangers; she gets like this every time we go to her obedience classes,” Tony admitted, bending over to scratch her behind the ears. Her posture relaxed slightly as she pushed her head up into his hand. He looked up with a challenging spark in his eye as he added, “Guess that means you’ll just have to come visit more often, if you ever wanna earn the princess’ approval.”

“Well, when you put it like that, visiting you sounds a lot more appealing than usual.”

“I am devastated snookums. I thought what we had was real. But the instant there’s a cute girl in the picture, you drop me like a hot potato. I see where your loyalties lie.”

“You bet. C’mon, we might as well watch something while I’m here. You got any B-rate movies we haven’t heckled yet?”

“As a matter of fact, I queued up _Big Ass Spider!_ just the other day. I’ll grab the popcorn.”

Tony returned in short order with two bowls of the stuff, dropping onto the couch next to Rhodey while handing him one. The instant he was settled, Natasha leapt onto the couch – only just making it and having to scrabble a bit – before crawling into his lap and curling up there. Tony absentmindedly pet her as he grabbed the remote and began scrolling through menus in search of the film.

Rhodey just watched them for a moment, allowing a fond smile to creep onto his face. Yes, it had been a _long_ time since he’d seen his friend look so content. He turned back towards the TV, still smiling to himself as he grabbed his beer.

_‘It’s a little step, but maybe now he’ll finally believe that he can be happy someday.’_

**Author's Note:**

> Ballantine’s is an expensive brand of scotch whiskey, apparently - I don't drink, so I just googled it and picked one with a cool name. And yes, Big Ass Spider is a real movie. It's on Netflix, if you don't mind arachnids and need to kill some time.


End file.
